When Is Hip Surgery Not Appropriate?

Even though hip surgery may be an effective way to minimize or eliminate hip pain, your doctor may decide that hip replacement surgery is not appropriate for you. Some reasons could include:

• You have an infection or a history of infection
• You don’t have enough bone, or the bone is not strong enough to support a new hip
• You have injured nerves in your hip area
• You have injured or nonfunctional hip muscles
• Your hip is severely unstable
• Your bones are not fully grown or developed
• You have noticeable bone loss or a severe decrease in bone mass (osteoporosis)
• Your hip joint has been previously fused and is stable, functional, and painless
• You have rheumatoid arthritis and active/history of skin lesions (due to increased risk of infection)